Daphne's Questionable Bet, page 20
“Sierra!” her mom screamed.
Sierra stood from the couch. “Mom, I’m right here.”
Placing her hand on her chest, Kimber let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I got your note about being over here and I …” Her voice trembled, causing me to roll my eyes.
Mom put her hand on her hip. “And you what, Kimber? Thought we were torturing her or something?”
Kimber scoffed. “Being in your home is torture in and of itself.”
I glanced over to notice Bentley and Weston sharing a confused look. They had no idea how much our moms hated each other. Or why.
“We’re working on a school project.” Sierra motioned toward Bentley, like knowing he was there would calm her mom.
When Kimber set eyes on Bentley, she did calm. Man, she had issues. No wonder Sierra was all messed up and so determined to carry out the bet. This small part of me suddenly wanted to let her win the bet.
Then Kimber looked in disgust at my mom, and I changed my mind.
Weston leaned close to me, whispering in my ear. “What’s going on?”
I kept my voice low. “Short story? My mom is Elizabeth Bennet, my dad Mr. Darcy, and Mrs. Winters is Caroline Bingley.”
Weston mouthed, “oh,” as his eyebrows furrowed, trying to process what I said.
Kimber stood tall. “While I’m here, I wanted to let you know that Friday is Sierra’s birthday, and we’ll be having a party at our house. With the DJ, the music may get a little loud, so don’t call the cops on us.”
Bentley laughed. “Wouldn’t that be your husband?”
Kimber and Sierra both tensed, but Bentley didn’t seem to notice. I hadn’t seen her dad at all since we’d moved in. I wasn’t sure if he was living there or not.
“Her birthday is on Friday?” Mom asked, glancing over at me.
Kimber rolled her eyes. “That’s what I said.”
Why on earth was Mom looking at me so funny? Then the realization hit me. I quickly pulled up the calendar on my phone, checking the date.
“That’s my birthday,” I said, not hiding the shock in my tone.
Sierra turned to me, her eyes going wide. “We have the same birthday?”
“Apparently,” I said, double-checking the calendar to make sure I hadn’t read it wrong.
“That’s awesome!” Bentley said.
No, it really wasn’t.
Weston eyed me, probably wondering why I hadn’t mentioned it before now. My dad went all out on birthdays. He’d bring me breakfast in bed, shower me with presents all day long, bake and decorate the cake himself, and take me anywhere I wanted. Ever since he passed, I hadn’t wanted to celebrate my birthday. Mom and I hardly talked about it. Veronica and Taylor never brought it up unless I did, which was never. So, it usually came and went without much fanfare.
Mom lifted her chin, her eyes ready for war. “Well, we’re having a party, too, and who knows how late it will go.”
Uh, we were?
Kimber sniffed. “Yes, well, I guess it won’t be a school night for your boy toy, so he can stay up a little later.”
I gasped. So did Sierra.
Mom, though, she balled her fists, looking ready to maul Kimber.
I quickly ran over, pushing my mom back right before she could lunge, creating a safe distance between them.
Sierra stood next to her mom, glowering at her, which surprised me. For the briefest of seconds, Kimber looked ashamed. It was gone just as quick, though.
Bentley and Weston had both stood from the couches, looking clearly uncomfortable and totally confused.
Kimber laughed. “It was a joke, Laura. Lighten up.” She put her arm around Sierra, her eyes on me. “Well, I hope someone still comes to your party. Most will probably be over at our place.”
Bentley cleared his throat. “We can have a joint party at my place.”
All of us turned to him.
He grinned. “We have a huge room dedicated to parties. The DJ can set-up in there. All of Sierra and Daphne’s friends and family can come, and that way no one from school has to choose what party they want to attend.”
“That’s really not necessary,” Mom said while Kimber said, “We wouldn’t want to intrude on your family.”
I felt Sierra staring at me. We locked eyes, and for the moment, our rivalry disappeared. I could tell in her eyes that she was upset by her mom’s comment. I was embarrassed by my mom’s reaction. It was a moment of realizing how stupid they were being.
It made sense, combining the parties. Although we didn’t have one planned. That was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Mom to make Kimber mad.
I’d never been to Bentley’s home, but from what I’d heard, it was a mansion. There would be so many people there and so much space, Sierra and I could probably avoid each other all night if we wanted to.
It meant finally acknowledging my birthday, but I couldn’t avoid it for the rest of my life. Might as well approach with style, just like Dad did.
“I’m fine with that if you are,” I said to Sierra.
She nodded. “Yeah, I think that would be good.”
“What?” Kimber asked, a mixture of shock and anger.
Mom rubbed my arm. “Are you sure you want that, sweetie?” Her tone held a worry that went beyond just having to share a party with Sierra.
I took a piece of my hair and twirled it around my finger, wanting the whole moment to end. “Yeah.” I looked at Bentley. “I mean, if your parents are okay with it.”
He was all smiles. “They will be.” He rubbed his hands together. “This is going to be epic!”
Well, that was one word to describe it, but probably not the one I would choose.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Tuesday morning, I was in a good mood, despite my upcoming combined birthday party with Sierra. I figured it would be a good time to flaunt how fun #Daphton was, with our love of songs and dancing. Bentley and Sierra, on the other hand, would just be showcasing how incredibly boring and polished they were, no imaginations whatsoever.
Plus, I’d had a delicious bacon, egg, and cheese bagel for breakfast, with a Cherry Coke on the side. Things were looking optimistic.
Veronica happened to park right next to DeShawn, so the second we got out of the car, they were all cuddles and gooey-eyes, which I was still getting used to, but it was definitely growing on me. The only thing that mattered to me was that he treated my best friend with respect.
He had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, his grin as bright as I was feeling inside. He looked over Veronica’s head at me. “Hey, it’s the birthday week girl!”
“Birthday week?” I asked.
DeShawn’s grin somehow grew. “Why only have a day when you can have a week?”
Veronica smiled sheepishly at me. “Sorry. I tried to tell him you don’t make a big deal of your birthday.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about it, and Dad would have wanted me to go all out. I think I need to focus more on making him proud than wallowing in the past.”
She squeezed my arm. “I like that idea.”
DeShawn’s gaze went passed me, locking on someone else and lighting up. “Weston, my man!”
Weston came into view, and my morning got even better. He immediately high-fived DeShawn, sporting his adorable smile.
“Nice clutch ace last night,” DeShawn said. He glanced over at us. “Our team would have lost if it weren’t for him.”
“Are we supposed to know what you’re talking about?” Veronica asked. She had her fingers intertwined with his hand that hung over her shoulder.
“Game talk,” Weston said, his gaze on Veronica. Then he high-fived DeShawn again before taking off into the school.
He hadn’t glanced in my direction once.
Huh.
Veronica frowned at me. “Is everything okay between the two of you?”
I shrugged. “I thought so.”
“He’s probably thinking about that hottie he met last night,” DeShawn said, wriggling his eyebrows. “Melted his brain.” He bumped Veronica’s hip. “Girls do that to a guy.”
When both Veronica and I stopped walking, his smile faltered. So did his steps. Probably because his arm was still around Veronica, and their interlocked hands yanked him back.
DeShawn threw up a hand in defense. “His words, not mine. I have no idea if she really is hot. He seems to think so. He wouldn’t shut up about her in the chat room last night.”
Anger filled Veronica’s eyes at the same time my stomach crashed into the ground. I placed a hand over my mouth, worried my bagel breakfast sandwich might make a reappearance.
DeShawn let go of Veronica and cautiously backed away. “I’m not the one who said she was hot! I swear!”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “That’s not why I’m mad.”
He blew out a breath of relief, his hand rubbing the top of his head. “I thought I was a dead man there for a second.” He scrunched his eyebrows. “Why are you mad?”
Veronica motioned to me. “He’s supposed to be into Daphne, not some stupid hottie.” She put her hands on her hips. “How did they meet?”
DeShawn swallowed, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “Maybe we should forget I said anything.”
“How did they meet, DeShawn?” Veronica asked.
“Some online chat room,” he spat out.
I hadn’t moved from my spot. It was like my feet were cemented to the ground, one with the asphalt, but so not in a romantic way. Weston had met someone else? We had just flirted last night at my house.
At least, I thought we were flirting. Was I wrong?
“Oh, good,” Veronica said, her hand on her chest. “So, it’s probably just some fifty-year-old pervert preying on the young and innocent.”
I wasn’t really sure how that would make the situation any better.
“They exchanged pictures. They have a mutual friend that introduced them.” DeShawn licked his lips, his eyes going wide when Veronica snarled. “I really need to stop talking. I think I’ll see myself out of this conversation.” He took off before either of us could stop him.
Not that I would have stopped him. I was welded to the ground.
Veronica placed her hands on my shoulders, her eyes softening. “Breathe, Daphne.”
Breathe? Had I stopped breathing? Oh, no. A panic attack had come on. When had that happened? The moment I found out the guy that I was falling for had found someone else? Yeah, that was probably it.
Maybe DeShawn was wrong. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. But Weston hadn’t even so much as glanced at me.
“There’s no way he moved on that quickly.” Veronica twisted her lips in thought. “I know how much he likes you.”
“Not anymore,” I whispered.
She lowered her hands. “Let me talk to him during math and find out what’s going on.”
When Veronica joined us for lunch, I knew it wasn’t good news. Her eyes were a mix of sorrow and anger. So much so that Zander and DeShawn excused themselves the second she showed up.
“What’s going on?” Taylor asked, clutching the sandwich in her hands so tight, I worried about its survival.
Veronica’s nostrils flared. “He met someone else. Said he was ‘smitten.’” She growled. “And here I was worried about Daphne breaking his heart. Not the other way around. I’m going to kill him.”
“Your kill list is really growing,” I mumbled, twirling some of my hair in my hand. “I’d hate for you to go to jail over a stupid crush.”
“This is beyond a crush,” Veronica said. “We all know how you feel about him. It’s painfully obvious.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Painfully?”
Veronica rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
Taylor wiped some breadcrumbs from her skirt. “This makes no sense whatsoever. No one switches crushes overnight.”
I scoffed. “Says the girl who had a new crush every week in middle school.”
“Weston isn’t a girl in middle school,” Taylor said. “That’s totally different.”
I pressed a shaky hand to my stomach. Having your crush actually crush you was the worst feeling ever.
Veronica snapped her fingers in front of my face. “You just need to remind him how much he likes you.”
Taylor nodded. “Definitely.”
Veronica huffed. “I’m so sick of the men in my life letting me down.”
“Uh, oh,” I said. “Did you end up talking to your dad?”
“Huh?” She tucked some hair behind her ear. “Oh, yeah. We hung out on Sunday.”
Taylor frowned. “It didn’t go well?”
Veronica pulled a bottle of water from her bag and took a sip. “It went really well, actually.” She smiled softly at me. “I’m glad I took your advice.” She pointed the water bottle at me. “Doesn’t mean I’m dropping my guard, though. I’m sure he’ll disappoint me soon enough.”
The bell rang, and I sighed. Weston sat next to me in English. Though I wanted to, I couldn’t avoid him.
Maybe Veronica was right. I needed to keep on fighting. I couldn’t give up because of some girl he chatted with once. That was ridiculous.
When I walked into our English class, Weston was on his phone, not paying attention to anyone around him. I handed Bentley and Sierra a rough outline of the skit.
“I put that together last night,” I said to them. “Tweak it all you want and give it back.”
Sierra scrolled the pages, looking impressed.
“Sounds good,” Bentley said.
I turned to Weston, setting a copy of the skit on his desk. “I put that—”
“I heard what you told them,” Weston said, his focus still on his phone. I’d never seen him so attached to the thing. Maybe he was a girl in middle school.
“Good.” I took a deep breath. “Have a good night last night?”
He finally looked up at me, his face neutral. No adorable, crooked smile. But it wasn’t swimming with hate or disgust like he couldn’t stand me. Just indifference. “Played Rainbow Six Siege with the guys.”
“That’s right,” I said, smiling. “What did DeShawn call it? A clutched ace or something?”
“Clutch ace.” His eyes went back to his phone, a small smile forming on his face when he read a message on the screen. “Oh, by the way, I can’t do Sadie Hawkins anymore. Sorry.”
Wow. He’d met some random girl last night, talked with her for a few hours, and now he was canceling dates because of it? That was … intense.
DeShawn had said a mutual friend had introduced Weston and the girl. My gaze immediately went to Sierra. Had she done this? Set him up with someone else?
Even if she had, she couldn’t force him to like her. I mean, the heart wanted what the heart wanted.
My heart wanted Weston.
I sank back in my seat, fighting off the tears. I wouldn’t cry. It was just a stupid crush. I’d get over it in time.
I found my gaze wandering back over to Weston. Everything we’d been through flashed through my mind. All the flirting. Our date. The little moments we’d shared. Him opening up to me at the beach. Our almost kiss that same night.
It hit me hard. I wouldn’t be getting over Weston Ashworth anytime soon.
Though I wasn’t one to listen to music in class, I popped in an earbud, using my long, wavy hair to hide it. I scrolled through the playlists on my phone until I found my Grumpy Grooves. Taking a deep breath, I pressed play, letting “Someone Like You” by Adele take me to my sad place.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As soon as I got home, I put on my Grumpy Care Bear onesie, ready to mourn. It was something I was good at, mourning. I’d figured it out after my dad passed. I’d spent so much time faking happy, telling people I was okay when inside, I was a pile of mush.
A couple of months after his funeral, I’d taken a day to really mourn. Shut off my phone, locked the doors, surrounded myself with a bunch of junk food, got down on the floor, and sobbed until nothing was left. In the end, I felt good. It was my way of releasing.
Okay, so Weston and I hadn’t ever been official, and he wasn’t, you know, dead. But he was pretty much the guy of my dreams, and he’d found another girl. If I wanted to mourn, by golly, I’d mourn.
I stopped in the middle of the family room, staring down at the coffee table. “Sorry, Grams and Gramps, but I’m going to ruin your HGTV vibe for this dreadful occasion. Surely, you’ll understand.”
With a heave of effort, I pushed the coffee table off to the side—seriously, did the manufacturers use the biggest, densest tree they could find to construct the thing?
Then, I grabbed all the snacks from the kitchen, setting them in a body-shaped circle on the floor. Lastly—but most definitely not least—I grabbed a six-pack of bottled Cherry Cokes and a bunch of straws.
After creating a long straw chain and setting the bottom into a bottle of Cherry Coke, I laid down in the middle of the living room, grabbed a Hostess Cupcake from the box to my left, ripped open the package, threw the plastic over my head, and stuffed the entire cupcake into my mouth. The cream oozed out, smearing onto the corners of my mouth.
How had Weston gotten over me that quickly? It had to have been some kind of world record, which totally would have impressed me if it hadn’t been me on the receiving end. My biggest crush basically crushed me like a can of Cherry Coke in his perfect hands.
I swallowed. “Alexa, play Kelly Clarkson’s My December album.”
I picked up the end of my straw chain and took a huge gulp of Cherry Coke, the bubbles welcoming against my tight throat. It was already constricting, waiting for me to cry like a fool.
Who was this girl? And was she really that amazing? I swore, if she had better dance moves than me … No. I couldn’t think that way. That was impossible.
Reaching out, I grabbed the next thing I could get my hands on—a package of gummy bears. I opened the bag and stuffed a whole bunch of the little dudes in my mouth.
“Sorry, guys,” I said, my words mumbled as I ate. “It’s nothing against you. I’m just having the worst day of my life.” I sniffed. “Okay, not the worst. Nothing can top my dad dying. But you get the idea.”
